Self-inflicted damage

In the bizarre world that is federal politics today, with a hung Parliament, independents and a media frenzy mostly dominated by spin rather than substance, the opposition needs to be doubly careful to avoid making itself the issue, taking the air out of its attack on the Gillard government.

It has done so twice already in just the past couple of weeks, once with the reported stoush between
Tony Abbott
and his deputy,
Julie Bishop
, over cuts in foreign aid as part of their alternative to the flood levy, and again with differences between
Joe Hockey
and
Scott Morrison
over the cost and location of the funerals of the asylum seekers who died in the Christmas Island boat wreck. In both cases, the pressure that should have remained on the government was easily shifted to them, and even more easily broadened to a “leadership issue". This was an opportunity to highlight tensions within the Coalition over Bishop’s deputy leadership and Hockey’s hold on the Treasury portfolio.

Moreover, in the case of the asylum seekers, it was also easily used to highlight broader tensions between the moderates and conservatives within the opposition and, worse still, give some air to the ratbag fringe of Hansonites always waiting in the wings to highlight the worst of our society.

Not only do these differences draw air as they become the issue, but then further air must be wasted in damage control. As long as their strategy is to oppose and not propose or to seek to encourage wider debate, unity in action and word is fundamental to their success. They need to set the message and stick to it, universally, irrespective of their personal views and ambitions. It would also be good for them to remember that “those on the opposite side are your opponents; your enemies are on your side".

The ALP seems to understand this better. Even though they are, in general, “better haters", they seem more capable of hating the other side more. Moreover, the disciplines of their strict factional structures make it somewhat easier to control the delivery of their message than does the looseness of the opposition’s internal ideological groupings.

Unfortunately, there have always been some in the Coalition who have had more ambition than ability, and who have often sought to justify their destabilising and, in some cases, insurrection, as for the broader or common “good". In recent days, we have seen it again over Bishop’s leadership role and the questioning of Hockey’s effectiveness. I would suggest that it is no accident that the name of
Andrew Robb
has been mentioned in dispatches, wanting to appear as the reluctant bride, in both cases.

It is widely known that Robb covets both positions, indeed even that of Abbott. It is equally well known that no one is quicker than Robb in totally ruling out such notions, publicly, once the issue has been raised, of course.

Those like Robb need to sit firmer on their batons, to bide their time, as the professionalism and discipline of the opposition is paramount to their success in this essentially uncharted political environment.

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They need to be seen to consistently rise above the rabble and daily furore, with a focused and consistent message.

However, they would be wise to impose a “reasonableness test" on their opposition. For example, most would have seen at least the timing, but also some of the substance, of Morrison’s comments on asylum seeker funerals as insensitive, lacking appropriate compassion, even inhumane.

That he was able to run this line also suggests that issues management needs to be improved in the opposition.

This was also confirmed recently by Abbott himself with his 20 seconds of silence to questions from Mark Riley about his comments on troop support while in Afghanistan.

While the issue should tell us more about Riley and Channel 7’s somewhat desperate quest for news relevance, Abbott had several hours of prior warning that the questions were coming. Why not prepare a measured, truthful response that would have been easy to deliver? Not only did Abbott then make himself the immediate issue, he also made a longer term rod for his back, as you can easily see the ALP using this clip of his silence, to represent his response on other key issues in advertising at the next election.

The final challenge for the opposition is to decide what they will “propose" and fight for, positively, at the next election.